Federer avoids making French Open irrelevant

First it was Novak Djokovic. Next was Venus Williams in the third round. Then it was defending men's champion Rafael Nadal. And the last major star to fall at the French Open was defending women's champion Ana Ivanovic.

For only the fourth time in the Open era at Roland Garros, neither defending champion reached the quarterfinals. So what's left to watch at the French Open?

Well, thanks to Roger Federer, at least one major star remains.

Less than 24 hours after the elimination of Nadal, Tommy Haas nearly stunned Federer, winning the first two sets 7-6 (4) and 7-5. Federer, however, dug deep and won three straight, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to stave off elimination at Roland Garros.

It's become more of a question of when than if the remaining stars will fall at the French Open with the dream matchup of Federer-Nadal out the window and Djokovic, Williams and Ivanovic all losing before the quarterfinals.

Luckily for Americans, we still have Andy Roddick to cheer for in the fourth round and potentially against the mighty Federer in the quarterfinals if he can advance against Gael Monfils of France.

But inevitably, one of those two stars must fall if they face off in the quarterfinals, leaving just two big names: the winner of that matchup and No. 3 Andy Murray.

Let's hope the winner of the potential Roddick-Federer matchup faces Murray in the finals, otherwise it will be quite an irrelevant French Open final.